89 Toyota Van Broke Down in the middle of the road.

My mechanic was driving my van back from his shop today. His shop is about a mile away from my flower shop. He changed the front rotors, front left lower and upper ball joints calipers, brake pads. Changed the starter replaced it with a Denso and changed the rear differential oil.

The van had been sitting at his shop for almost 4 weeks. He was busy couldn't get around to it but finally did yesterday. It broke down less then a mile away from my flower shop so I had a buddy who tows cars at our lot pick it up and leave it at my shop. It turns and the rpm goes up and down but it wont start. Im gonna start removing it apart later today. My first guess is ignition coil or something spark related but my mechanic said he thinks its bad gas that caused it to just cut off in the middle of the road and not start. Im gonna get some premium vpower put a few gallons in it and see what happens before I start taking it apart.

Or maybe it may have a small gas leak some where that caused it to leak and run low? Who knows It did sit at his shop for almost 4 weeks but I left it with half a tank full with him.

Check your wiring harness connections. My van conked-out just like yours once. Turned out that a
plastic tab got brittle and broke-off on the end of the plug that goes into the back of the airbox.
Just another thing to be aware of. Good luck!

Your talkin about the mass air flow sensor right? ^^^


It is incredible. As soon as we got it towed to my flower shop it started up every single time. I must have started it atleast 10 times and let it run for more then 30 minutes sometimes. Everything was normal. My mechanic thinks that the ignition coil may be in its first stages of failure.

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Your talkin about the mass air flow sensor right? ^^^

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Yes, sorry for the error.

As for your van, it could be many things of course... I think timsrv is absolutely correct in the theory that the mid-engine design causes the "heat bubble" effect which over time (27 years+) bakes all the wiring, rubber hoses and plastic stuff into a not so appetizing "headache casserole". :dizzy:

If it were electronic (like failing coil or igniter), there would have been a code stored. Jump the "Check Engine Connector" and read codes. If none are stored, then I'd be more suspicious of the fuel system. Tim

I will check codes later today. By the way we are back to square 1. It turns but wont start

Tried testing for codes today. All I got was the check engine light flashing repeatedly and a quick rate with no pauses.


On the other note I tried starting it today and walla it started right up. I did notice the rpm needle acts very weird when I start it. Like it will bounce up to 2K up and down giving a false reading before leveling out.

I changed my ignition coil but am still having issues.

The other night I changed the coil out and started it up. It was running but when I tried to drive it around the parking lot it had bad pick up so I figured the timing is probably off so I stopped driving it. While I was doing the job, I noticed the o-ring on the distributor was leaking so I ordered another one from Toyota. The o-ring came in and I tried installing it today. I got it on but when I put the distributor back in and hooked everything up it wouldn't start. I thought some how I may have installed the distributor at the wrong angle, so I pulled it out rotated and installed it again. It still wont start. Just turns. Any ideas on what i may have done wrong? Ive doubled checked that everything was connected.

Your distributor is probably not on top dead center of the number one cylinder. I did the same thing, at least twice. Here's my post when Tim walked me through it, hope it helps :
http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...-Van-won-t-run!

Yup my mechanic came back from his trip and got it right. TDC. It starts and runs now